China looks to Tianjin as beacon for economy – Jason Subler

Imagine a corner of China where the yuan is freely traded, banks can offer a full range of financial services and farmers receive fair compensation when they have to leave the land.

It sounds far-fetched, but that is exactly what could happen before long under plans to turn the TianjinBinhai New Area into a test-bed for market-orientated reforms that, if successful, could shape China’s economic future.

…the Binhai experiment is meant to come up with the new model of balanced economic development that China’s leaders, worried by growing inequality and pollution, have been seeking with growing urgency…Wang Kai, head of the policy research department for Binhai New Area, is under no illusion about the enormity of the task. “There’s no roadmap for us to follow,” he said. “We’ll be creating a new path with every step we take.” [Full Text]

See China Daily’s slightly rosier portrait of Binhai here, and a more detailed look at possible currency exchange reforms from Asia Pulse here.„ÄÄ